Andrew Moss, Aviva CEO, Resigns After Shareholder Revolt On Compensation

LONDON -- The chief executive of Aviva, Britain's largest insurer, has resigned following a shareholder revolt over executive pay, the company said Tuesday.

The company gave no explanation for the decision by Andrew Moss, who had been CEO since 2007, to step down a week after shareholders voted against the company's decisions on executive pay and bonuses.

At Aviva's annual general meeting a week ago, 823 million votes were recorded against the pay plan, or remuneration report, compared to 670 million in favor. Another 152 million votes abstained.

Shareholders were unhappy at a 33 percent drop in the value of shares in the last year.

Aviva shares were up 4.9 percent at 317 pence in early trading in London.

"We suspect that the latest batch of negative headlines over the Remuneration Report at the AGM was the last straw and Moss had to go," said Barrie Cornes, analyst at Panmure Gordon & Co. "Few will shed any tears given his handling of the business over the last few years which have seen the shares massively underperform the sector."

Aviva said its chairman-designate, John McFarlane, would step in as interim CEO and "will immediately assume the task of improving the delivery of shareholder value by the group."

"He does not underestimate the significance of the challenge but is optimistic of the right result," Aviva said.

In recent weeks, David Brennan has announced his resignation as CEO of drug maker AstraZeneca and Sly Bailey has decided to leave newspaper publisher Trinity Mirror at the end of the year. Both companies have disappointed investors with declining share prices – down 15 percent in a year at AstraZeneca and 39 percent at Trinity Mirror.

Barclays was also stung by a drop in shareholder support for the bank's executive compensation. Seventy-three percent of the vote supported Barclays' plan, down from 90 percent a year earlier.

Chief Executive Bob Diamond was awarded pay, bonus and deferred shares worth 17.7 million pounds ($28.7 million at the current exchange rate) for 2011, a year in which the chief executive said the bank's performance was "unacceptable."

Before Barclays' annual general meeting, the bank announced that a chunk of the bonuses to Diamond and Finance Director Chris Lucas would only be paid out if certain earnings targets are achieved. Diamond stands to lose 1.35 million pounds ($2.17 million) and Lucas 900,000 pounds if they miss the target.

Comments

[seaperl]

06:55 PM on 05/09/2012

Awe, guess it's time for his retirement anyway. 1 bank exec to go, hundreds left. Now to get the top 20 bank CEOs and boards to follow suit and we might have a chance.
Then it will be time to split each of the top 20 banks into 20 pieces each. THAT WOULD FIX IT.

[phatdaddy51]

10:49 AM on 05/09/2012

the cash cow has been milked for everything it had...time to move on.

[yoyodyne666]

04:33 AM on 05/09/2012

I think we need not just a minimum wage, but a maximum wage as well, I mean really how much do you really need.

[pslcitizen]

02:16 AM on 05/09/2012

Never heard of it.

[Leepconsult]

01:40 AM on 05/09/2012

"Chief Executive Bob Diamond was awarded pay, bonus and deferred shares worth 17.7 million pounds ($28.7 million at the current exchange rate) for 2011, a year in which the chief executive said the bank's performance was 'unacceptable.' "

Wow. Wouldn't the rest of us love to be paid 28 million dollars for doing a bad job?

And this my friends is where all the money is going -- to "executive compensation." It's about time there was a revolt agains what these people pay themselves. No one is worth the kind of money they are demanding.

Athletes and entertainers should be cut down to size next.

[redvelvetflames]

01:58 AM on 05/09/2012

I agree with you Leep regarding executive compensation, but Athletes? Will never happen because of their short lived careers (age/injuries). Entertainers? That is all contract based and of course popularity. If no one buy's their music or go to their concerts they would be poor schmoes like the rest of us.

[cqdeed]

03:28 AM on 05/09/2012

If I buy music it is old classics. I don't go to their concerts anymore and I don't go to the movies anymore either. Too poor to own shares in any company so someone else will have to stage that revolt.

[On My Way 58]

04:55 AM on 05/09/2012

Athletic careers may be short lived, but that does not mean they are worth the compensation they are demanding and receiving. It boggles the mind to think that chasing a piece of plastic or pig skin has become so important. And it should be noted that those at the top who are demanding and receiving the outrageous income are doing so at the expense of their fellow players.

Entertainers are no better. Contract or not, popularity aside, they are simply entertainment, and while that is important to quality of life, it is not so important that it merits the outrageous incomes.

And executive compensation is no better. Remember, before the Great Crash, executive compensation was close to as excessive in comparison to worker compensation as it is now.

There is a point where more than enough becomes far too much. We have reached and stretched beyond that point in far too many areas.

[yoyodyne666]

04:36 AM on 05/09/2012

I'm sure he is still going to come out ahead.

[irishlion7]

11:34 PM on 05/08/2012

Well we know that that would not happen in the U.S becuse no matter what the shareholders say about EEO. Compensation the committee that decides what to pay the boss is deaf, and consider the shareholders just a bunch of infants whith no real say in the operation of the company and the comp. committee are CEO's of other large corp.s that the CEO whose pay they are deciding upon sits on the cpayment committee's of there companies. So if they do not give them a big pay raise he will vote agaisnt there BIG pay raise when it comes up.
:You fill my wallet and I will fill yours" to hell with the share holdres who do they think they are. If we decided that they are to get nothing in payments for there stock then thats what we will decide what do they think they live in a reall Democracy or something!

[GreatGrand mama]

12:04 AM on 05/09/2012

that is why I won't invest in major corporations any longer. I want to invest in a co,, which has some hiring record, and good performance. not a rubber stamp setup as they are now..

[kamact]

11:06 PM on 05/08/2012

Wonderful...send him to the salt mines...

[montanasian]

10:59 PM on 05/08/2012

This is why I revolted in college studying finance and learning of derivatives and the way we were being taught to be corporate pimps. Enron types piss me off. However dont tell me I cant enjoy the fruits of my hard work. At the same time it is our responsibilties to take care of one another by either teaching the next person or associate or by giving in any shape of form instead of taking.

[georgeny]

10:55 PM on 05/08/2012

So much for the duty owed to employees and shareholders. Imagine what would happen if your local doctor or lawyer abandoned you immediately when you wouldn't pay him ransom. These" executives" are all pure trash

[jimdavis11]

10:46 PM on 05/08/2012

Household net worth statistics for 2007 total 67 trillion dollars
1. top 1 tenth of 1% 21 trillion dollars, 30% of total wealth
2. balance of top 1% 8.5 trillion dollars, 12.7% of total wealth
3. next 19% 33.7 trillion dollars, 50.3% of total wealth
bottom 80% breakdown
5. next 40% 46.9 trillion dollars, 7% of total wealth
6. bottom 40% no net worth
Conclusion: Middle class Republican's are suckers.

[canon940]

11:55 PM on 05/08/2012

Is that set of statistics given to show us that all households in America are Republicans. Cool.......

[GreatGrand mama]

12:12 AM on 05/09/2012

I do believe a poor person could run a corporation with the same brain power at some of these elitist hotshots that are paid outrageous amounts of money to look wonderful and say all the right things.. for example...someone like Sam Walton. who drove that old pick up truck all over. He would go into his stores and check out the employees. he was one smart man..

[dknowles60]

02:49 AM on 05/09/2012

ditto

[jimdavis11]

08:55 AM on 05/09/2012

Ross Perot drove a 85 Olds Cutlas at the time he he was running for president in 1991 when he warned us to "listen for the giant sucking sound." Seems like we have gotten used to the sound though as 1.2 million dollars has been leaving this country each and every minute since 2000 to service our foreign trade deficit. Link
www.americaneconomicalert.org/ticker_home.asp

[tomofsnj]

10:03 PM on 05/08/2012

I sure hope that they do not stop with this one person. The board of directors place is to be outsiders who keep an eye on the doings on the insiders. In the USA and probably most of the world the board is nothing but a group who meet once a month for a very expensive meal and a good time in a nice place. Then they might actually be required to remember which corporations they are directing at this meeting. I am sure more than one has forgotten which john they were doing on a given day. The insiders have looted all the wealth of once great companies.

[No7]

10:00 PM on 05/08/2012

...I hope it starts here REAL soon!!

[VegasBabe]

09:59 PM on 05/08/2012

These compensation pkgs are little more than hiway robbery. Good for the shareholders!

[wild64u]

09:58 PM on 05/08/2012

Long overdue! The good old boys club is destroying business globaly. Lets hope this makes it to the U.S. There is no way even a great CEO is worth that kind of compensation. A shame shareholders have taken so long to realize it.

[rissole]

09:53 PM on 05/08/2012

Let's see how many millions he gets for the golden handshake.